KARACHI: Ontex, a Belgian multinational manufacturer of baby, feminine and adult hygiene care products, is all set to double its investment to €20 million in Pakistan in the next two to three years, company officials said on Friday.
“We have invested €10 million in Pakistan since we started operating back in 2011. In the coming few years, another investment of €10 million will be made in Pakistan. We will add new production lines, invest in warehouses, marketing and human capital,” Pavel Verblyudenko, Vice President of Ontex for Middle East, Asia and Africa (MEAA), told Arab News.
Ontex is an international producer of hygiene products with 18 production facilities around the world, including Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, Australia and the Americas. It also sells its products in more than 110 countries.
In Pakistan, the company claims that Canbebe is its leading brand which is manufactured in its facility located in Karachi’s Port Qasim Industrial Area.
Pavel Verblyudenko, Vice President of Ontex for Middle East, Asia and Africa said on January 17, 2020, that his company wanted to make Pakistan its export hub for south Asia and the Middle East. (AN Photo)
Verblyudenko says his company is planning to make Pakistan its export springboard by marketing manufactured products to neighboring countries and the Middle East, where it still lacks production facilities. “We are very serious about Pakistan. We want to double our production capacity in the next few years and enhance product range,” he added.
“We will export from Pakistan. At the moment, we are trying to identify potential markets for our products. We are looking at Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and we are very serious about making Pakistan our export hub in South Asia and the Middle East,” Verblyudenko informed.
According to official data, the world is beginning to view Pakistan as a potential investment destination where Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) surged by 68 percent to $1.34 billion in the last six months (July-December 2019). The inflow of FDI from Belgium was recorded at $2.1 million during this period, according to the State Bank of Pakistan that released relevant data on Friday.
With an annual population growth rate of 2.10 percent, Pakistan is a huge market for consumer products. The country welcome around 6 million newborns every year, according to the Economic Survey of Pakistan and UNICEF.
“About 6 million babies are born in Pakistan every year,” Ameen Jan, country head and general manager of Ontex, told Arab News. “While not all of them use baby diapers, a large chunk of them do.”
“So we can make an estimate: If the baby uses diapers for three years, the market size will be about seven to eight million. It’s a rapidly growing market for baby diapers,” Jan continued, adding: “The market for feminine hygiene products is also growing. More and more consumers are seeking the convenience of sanitary napkins, making it a fast growing and fast moving market.”
Although the exact figures are not available, it is estimated that more than a billion units of diapers are consumed in Pakistan and the market is growing at the rate of seven to eight percent, making the country highly attractive from investment point of view.
